Can Eating Nuts Help Those of Us With Elevated Heart Disease Risks?

The American College of Cardiology has published a study showing that eating nuts may help lower cardiovascular disease risks.

This study is the largest thus far to look at frequency of nut consumption and how it relates to incidences of cardiovascular disease. The American College of Cardiology released a statement saying that in a nut shell, those who make a habit of eating nuts (tree nuts, walnuts, even peanuts) enjoy lower risks for cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease when compared to those who never or hardly ever have nuts.

This study interestingly included looking into the link between specific types of nuts and major cardiovascular events. They included peanuts, which are technically a legume due to their “similar fatty acid and nutrient profile as other nuts.”

Study Details

Researchers covered data from over 210,000 people, following them for up to 32 years. Data from women came from the Nurses’ Health Study and Nurses’ Health Study II and data from men came from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. This gave researchers access to medical history data as well as lifestyle and health conditions that came from self-administered questionnaires every two years.

They looked for signs of major cardiovascular disease like heart attacks, strokes, or fatal heart disease. They also tracked total coronary heart disease which was defined as a fatal or non-fatal heart attack, and total stroke which included fatal and non-fatal strokes. There were 14,136 cases of heart disease, 8,390 of coronary heart disease, and 5,910 cases of stroke among the subjects.

Researchers “found a consistent inverse association between total nut consumption and total cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease,” states the press release.

Which Nuts are Best?

Having walnuts one or more times a week was tied to a 19 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease and a 21 percent lower risk of coronary heart disease. Having peanuts two or more times a week lowered risk of cardiovascular disease by 13 percent and coronary heart disease by 15 percent. Having tree nuts two or more times per week lowered risk of cardiovascular disease by 15 percent and coronary heart disease by 23 percent. All the above are results when compared to those who never ate nuts.

Those who had five or more servings of nuts per week showed a 14 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease and a 20 percent lower risk for coronary heart disease than those who never or rarely ate nuts. Researchers state that peanuts and walnuts were inversely associated with stroke risk but that peanut butter and tree nuts showed no association to stroke risk.

So the nuts with the most positive associations include walnuts and other tree nuts which include almonds, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, pistachios, pine nuts, macadamia nuts, and cashews. Following closely are peanuts. It is unclear which among the other tree nuts are most beneficial. Other studies have pinpointed almonds and pistachios to be among the more heart healthy.

A large benefit to peanuts involve their considerable difference in price compared to tree nuts. Those who can’t afford regular tree nuts in their diet might be able to have peanuts regularly.

Marta Guasch-Ferre, PhD and lead author of the study as well as research fellow at the department of nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health said in the release, “Our findings support recommendations of increasing the intake of a variety of nuts, as part of healthy dietary patterns, to reduce the risk of chronic disease in the general populations,”

White health professionals did make up the majority of subjects in the study but researchers believe these results should apply to the general population.

Sysy Morales has lived with type 1 diabetes for 23 years. She also blogs at The Girls Guide to Diabetes, is a motivational speaker, and is a graduate of The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Sysy lives in Virginia with her husband and 8 year old twins.